Journey were partway through a U.S. tour when they performed at the Sullivan Sports Arena in Anchorage on Feb. 1, 1987. So it may even have come to a surprise to them that it was the last show they’d ever play with singer Steve Perry.

When they completed their performance of “Faithfully” that night, they closed the book on their rise to fame. And even though there would be one more album with Perry, and a 10-minute guest appearance at an all-star concert in 1991, it was the last time he led them through a full performance.

Tensions had been simmering between Perry and guitarist Neal Schon. Following the release of three definitive classic-rock albums — Escape, Frontiers and Raised on Radio — Journey were undeniably massive. But Perry dismissed bassist Ross Valory and drummer Steve Smith before the recording of 1986’s Raised on Radio, and all was still not well.

The singer, who was also producing the album, later said he was “toast” as he dealt with the illness and then death of his mother during sessions. That had led to the breakdown in relations that forced his hand at Anchorage. He refused to continue to the tour, the following shows were canceled and the band went on hiatus.

Perry had another argument in his favor: His 1984 solo album, Street Talk, had won him even more personal acclaim, and it could be argued that he didn’t need Journey anymore. The presence of his solo tracks “Strung Out” and “Oh Sherrie” on the Raised on Radio tour set list suggested he felt he was in a strong bargaining position and that his colleagues accepted that.

When the classic lineup regrouped for 1996’s Trial by Fire, Perry suffered a hip injury that prevented them from touring for 18 months because he didn’t want to undergo the surgery he required. With the clock ticking, Schon issued an ultimatum: Have the procedure or be fired. Perry chose the latter option, saying that he felt unduly pressured by his colleagues’ approach, and insisting he’d never work with them again – although he joined them for an award ceremony on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2005.

Journey continued with Steve Augeri and later Jeff Scott Soto, before hiring singer Arnel Pineda in 2007. Perry dropped off the radar for a long time, but began to show his face again in the ’10s, making a handful of low-key guest spots onstage, discussing a solo album that may or may not feature EDM influences and talking about the personal turmoil that kept him out of the spotlight.

In April 2017, Journey will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, bringing with it the anticipation that Perry might return to the mic for the first time in 26 years. Pineda said he was looking forward to the opportunity of finally meeting Perry. Schon was hopeful too. “I’d love to have him do a song with us – or two, or whatever,” he said. “What would be even greater would be for him to do a song with Arnel too. I’m open to everything. I’m very open-minded to whatever happens.”

But Perry remained non-commital, saying only, “I am truly grateful that Journey is being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”

Whether Perry wants a reunion is, of course, his own affair. (He once said “I never really felt like I was part of the band.”) Whether he needs a reunion is doubtful, at least to Schon. In 2016, the guitarist said, “What people don’t understand is that we couldn’t possibly be doing better right now, even if he was with us. It’s taken a lot of hard work to build it back up, but you know what? We’re here again. We’re sitting there. Management is the first to tell me it couldn’t possibly be bigger.”

Whatever happens in April, it seems that the 21-song show that night in Anchorage was the last time the Voice would perform a full-length show with the band he helped lift into the stratosphere. As Perry noted in 2014, “I’m not the person I was 30 years ago. That person is gone.”

Perry's good natured bonhomie & the world’s most charmin smile,knocked fans off their feet. Sportin a black tux,gigs came alive as he swished around the stage thrillin audiences w/ charisma that instantly burnt the oxygen right out of the venue.TR.com

“What people don’t understand is that we couldn’t possibly be doing better right now, even if he was with us. It’s taken a lot of hard work to build it back up, but you know what? We’re here again. We’re sitting there. Management is the first to tell me it couldn’t possibly be bigger.”

“What people don’t understand is that we couldn’t possibly be doing better right now, even if he was with us. It’s taken a lot of hard work to build it back up, but you know what? We’re here again. We’re sitting there. Management is the first to tell me it couldn’t possibly be bigger.”

Still full of himself i see...

I have to kind of agree with Neal. At their age, to be doing the business they are is pretty phenomenal. I think if Perry was still singing, the show would be more interesting to some, but I can't imagine they would be doing bigger tours. If it was Perry coming back, yes - much bigger. But if Perry was there all along, this is probably close to where they'd be.

I was in the camp of no Perry, no Journey. And I've only seen them a few times since Perry left. But one has to acknowledge the hard fought battle back to the amount of business they are doing. When I read Neal's comment, at first I was like, bullshit! But then I thought about it. Would a Perry-fronted Journey really eb doing much more touring than Journey does now. I just don't think so.

“What people don’t understand is that we couldn’t possibly be doing better right now, even if he was with us. It’s taken a lot of hard work to build it back up, but you know what? We’re here again. We’re sitting there. Management is the first to tell me it couldn’t possibly be bigger.”

Still full of himself i see...

I have to kind of agree with Neal. At their age, to be doing the business they are is pretty phenomenal. I think if Perry was still singing, the show would be more interesting to some, but I can't imagine they would be doing bigger tours. If it was Perry coming back, yes - much bigger. But if Perry was there all along, this is probably close to where they'd be.

I was in the camp of no Perry, no Journey. And I've only seen them a few times since Perry left. But one has to acknowledge the hard fought battle back to the amount of business they are doing. When I read Neal's comment, at first I was like, bullshit! But then I thought about it. Would a Perry-fronted Journey really eb doing much more touring than Journey does now. I just don't think so.

My thought is that if Perry had stayed with the band, the dynamics would be different. The tours would have been on a grander scale, but less frequent. They would also probably be tours that supported new material along with their classics, which is why the tours would be every few years. They would be more in the company of bands like U2, Bon Jovi and The Eagles (before Glenn Frey sadly passed), instead of the yearly packaged AOR tours that they have been part of. Regardless, they have been playing their asses off. Props to them for keeping the legacy alive.

Art Vandelay wrote:My thought is that if Perry had stayed with the band, the dynamics would be different. The tours would have been on a grander scale, but less frequent. They would also probably be tours that supported new material along with their classics, which is why the tours would be every few years. They would be more in the company of bands like U2, Bon Jovi and The Eagles (before Glenn Frey sadly passed), instead of the yearly packaged AOR tours that they have been part of. Regardless, they have been playing their asses off. Props to them for keeping the legacy alive.

I would have to agree with Art. I don't think you would be seeing Journey touring as much as they do with Steve Perry and they wouldn't be going to the B level market venues very much, if at all. They would probably do 25-30 shows a tour focusing more on major venues such as the United Center in Chicago, The Palace in Detroit, Toyota Center in Houston, Staples Center in LA...etc.

It sounded like they were planning the tour when Perry had his hiking accident. Would be curious to hear what types of venues and possible touring partner if any they would have had. Its too bad we never got a "real reunion".

I know two years later they played roy wilkins in Saint Paul (with no opening act) and could not sell out a 5000 seat arena.

Its amazing that they are selling out 10-15,000 seat areans now.

Did they eveer come even close to that with Augeri? Maybe with Leppard, when they were the backup band (or was it co-headlined).

a man, well, he'll walk right into hell with both eyes open. But even the devil can't fool a dog!"

scarab wrote:It sounded like they were planning the tour when Perry had his hiking accident. Would be curious to hear what types of venues and possible touring partner if any they would have had. Its too bad we never got a "real reunion".

Yeah, I read they had tour dates all set up for that summer. It would be interesting to know what venues those were. Laura might have the answer to that.

scarab wrote:It sounded like they were planning the tour when Perry had his hiking accident. Would be curious to hear what types of venues and possible touring partner if any they would have had. Its too bad we never got a "real reunion".

Yeah, I read they had tour dates all set up for that summer. It would be interesting to know what venues those were. Laura might have the answer to that.

Journey was being managed by Irving Azoff during the TBF reunion. We offered to fire up the Journey Force again, and the band were into it, but were told that Irving Azoff "does not like fan clubs." It was obvious he had no interest in working with us. If there were tour dates set up, we never saw them.

scarab wrote:It sounded like they were planning the tour when Perry had his hiking accident. Would be curious to hear what types of venues and possible touring partner if any they would have had. Its too bad we never got a "real reunion".

Yeah, I read they had tour dates all set up for that summer. It would be interesting to know what venues those were. Laura might have the answer to that.

Journey was being managed by Irving Azoff during the TBF reunion. We offered to fire up the Journey Force again, and the band were into it, but were told that Irving Azoff "does not like fan clubs." It was obvious he had no interest in working with us. If there were tour dates set up, we never saw them.

steveo777 wrote:Realizing it's been 30 years for Steve and Journey makes me feel incredibly old on this day! lol

I just pulled out a crate of Vinyl LPs that haven't seen the light of day since sometime in 1985. Over 200 records that have not seen a turntable in over 30 years!

New turntable will be here tomorrow and they're going back in rotation.

My wish list in order - Aquarium, turntable. I do not have a lot of vinyl left. I had a collection of 700+ stolen in 1989 and I just never built it back up. I did spend many years finding most of those on CD or download, so I am not missing much. But I do have a few collectibles and things I have purchased since in anticipation of buying a turntable eventually.

Journey/Survivor wrote:I have a bunch of Journey records that I'm willing to sell to anyone that might be interested. I hate to sell them, but I need money very badly, and I own all of the albums on CD anyway.

If anyone is interested in buying them, send me a PM.

Needing money very badly and having some Journey albums to sell don't seem to compliment each other. I am sure they are out there on various sites.

All my records have played flawlessly. So far played infinity, departure and escape. I proved that 30 year old records still play. My grandson was overwhelmed. It was funny to see him to react to that technology, but he was in to it!

Journey/Survivor wrote:I have a bunch of Journey records that I'm willing to sell to anyone that might be interested. I hate to sell them, but I need money very badly, and I own all of the albums on CD anyway.

If anyone is interested in buying them, send me a PM.

Needing money very badly and having some Journey albums to sell don't seem to compliment each other. I am sure they are out there on various sites.

What kind of money you trying to fetch?

Well my money issues are probably far worse than you'd realize. By all rights I should have sold them already. But my Journey/Journey-family tree and Survivor/Survivor-family tree stuff is like the last stuff on earth that I'd want to sell. There is a store near me that is asking around $7 to $15 per record for Journey's used records. Of course, I know that they would not pay me that amount per record, seeing as they want to turn a profit on what they turn around and sell them for.

I'd have to look into it a little more. But I could come up with a $-amount soon if anyone's interested.

Journey/Survivor wrote:I have a bunch of Journey records that I'm willing to sell to anyone that might be interested. I hate to sell them, but I need money very badly, and I own all of the albums on CD anyway.

If anyone is interested in buying them, send me a PM.

Needing money very badly and having some Journey albums to sell don't seem to compliment each other. I am sure they are out there on various sites.

What kind of money you trying to fetch?

Well my money issues are probably far worse than you'd realize. By all rights I should have sold them already. But my Journey/Journey-family tree and Survivor/Survivor-family tree stuff is like the last stuff on earth that I'd want to sell. There is a store near me that is asking around $7 to $15 per record for Journey's used records. Of course, I know that they would not pay me that amount per record, seeing as they want to turn a profit on what they turn around and sell them for.

I'd have to look into it a little more. But I could come up with a $-amount soon if anyone's interested.

Lora wrote:Journey was being managed by Irving Azoff during the TBF reunion. We offered to fire up the Journey Force again, and the band were into it, but were told that Irving Azoff "does not like fan clubs." It was obvious he had no interest in working with us. If there were tour dates set up, we never saw them.

I suppose that's better than having the dates set and then canceled like the end of the ROR tour.

Memorex wrote:Needing money very badly and having some Journey albums to sell don't seem to compliment each other. I am sure they are out there on various sites.

What kind of money you trying to fetch?

Well my money issues are probably far worse than you'd realize. By all rights I should have sold them already. But my Journey/Journey-family tree and Survivor/Survivor-family tree stuff is like the last stuff on earth that I'd want to sell. There is a store near me that is asking around $7 to $15 per record for Journey's used records. Of course, I know that they would not pay me that amount per record, seeing as they want to turn a profit on what they turn around and sell them for.

I'd have to look into it a little more. But I could come up with a $-amount soon if anyone's interested.[/quote]

Memorex wrote:Needing money very badly and having some Journey albums to sell don't seem to compliment each other. I am sure they are out there on various sites.

What kind of money you trying to fetch?

Well my money issues are probably far worse than you'd realize. By all rights I should have sold them already. But my Journey/Journey-family tree and Survivor/Survivor-family tree stuff is like the last stuff on earth that I'd want to sell. There is a store near me that is asking around $7 to $15 per record for Journey's used records. Of course, I know that they would not pay me that amount per record, seeing as they want to turn a profit on what they turn around and sell them for.

I'd have to look into it a little more. But I could come up with a $-amount soon if anyone's interested.

I'm interested in knowing.[/quote]

Give me a few days, and I'll get back to you.[/quote]

I feel for anyone going through overwhelming financial difficulties. Having been totally down and out before, in my own life, I can only ask you, speaking from experience, to not sell your treasures. If selling them will not solve your problem, you're just not going to solve the problem by selling them. Put them away and pretend they are not there for awhile. The sun will shine again for you and I pray that it does. I suspect you might want to consult a professional, regarding your financial problems. There are lots of ways to solve problems. If its a hemorrhage, a band-aid ain't gonna fix it. Don't sell your stuff man. Look for other relief. Sending good thoughts and prayers your way!

Memorex wrote:Needing money very badly and having some Journey albums to sell don't seem to compliment each other. I am sure they are out there on various sites.

What kind of money you trying to fetch?

Well my money issues are probably far worse than you'd realize. By all rights I should have sold them already. But my Journey/Journey-family tree and Survivor/Survivor-family tree stuff is like the last stuff on earth that I'd want to sell. There is a store near me that is asking around $7 to $15 per record for Journey's used records. Of course, I know that they would not pay me that amount per record, seeing as they want to turn a profit on what they turn around and sell them for.

I'd have to look into it a little more. But I could come up with a $-amount soon if anyone's interested.

I'm interested in knowing.

Give me a few days, and I'll get back to you.[/quote]

I feel for anyone going through overwhelming financial difficulties. Having been totally down and out before, in my own life, I can only ask you, speaking from experience, to not sell your treasures. If selling them will not solve your problem, you're just not going to solve the problem by selling them. Put them away and pretend they are not there for awhile. The sun will shine again for you and I pray that it does. I suspect you might want to consult a professional, regarding your financial problems. There are lots of ways to solve problems. If its a hemorrhage, a band-aid ain't gonna fix it. Don't sell your stuff man. Look for other relief. Sending good thoughts and prayers your way! [/quote]

Thank you for the kind words. I appreciate it !

I don't want to get into too much on here. But because of a variety of health issues, I am no longer able to work. I applied for SSI disability. It got turned down. I then went to the best SSI disability lawyers in town. It took about a year to get a hearing before a judge. My lawyers were certain that I'd be awarded disability payments. I got a judge who ranks in the top 10 in the entire country for rejecting claims. Needless to say, she ruled against me.

If I had gotten almost any other judge in the country I probably would have won my case.

I need to file for a new hearing, which will take about 14 to 18 months to take place.